Author

HELCOM RED LIST Biotope Expert Team

Textual description

Baltic aphotic zone bottoms with at least 90 % coverage of sand. Sand has less than 20 % of mud/silt/clay fraction (<63 µm), and the proportion of sand (grain size 0.063–2 mm) exceeds 70% of the combined gravel and sand fraction. Epibenthic bivalves cover at least 10 % of the seabed, and more than other perennial attached erect groups. Out of the epibenthic bivalves, Chamelea gallina constitutes at least 50 % of the biomass.

Physical environment

Substrate
is sand. Appears in moderate to high energy exposure areas. Salinity must be at
least 5.